Ph.D. Program: Curriculum

Full-time students take four courses each semester for their first two years in the program, for a total of 48 credit hours that combine core courses and electives. Students may take up to half of their course credit hours outside of the school. In their third year, students enroll in six dissertation credit hours and also complete comprehensive exams.

Substantive Areas of Study

Media processes and production

Study of the economic, ethical, historical, sociological and technological influences on media. This includes analysis of decision-making and examination of how new ways of conceptualizing news and journalism are influencing management decisions. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include changing news values for changing media, work-culture change in an evolving media landscape, shifting conceptualizations of international, ethnic and alternative media, advertisers’ responses to converged and multimedia operations and the influence of ethical standards on media practice and performance.

Faculty

Deb Aikat

Dr. Aikat theorizes about the evolving roles of media and journalism in the digital age.

Lois Boynton

Joe Cabosky

Dr. Cabosky's research and creative work focuses on diversifying public relations by better appreciating the differences among publics and how this diversity should lead to better ways to build relationships with publics and stakeholders.

Trevy A. McDonald

Daniel Riffe

Dr. Riffe's research areas include mass communication research methodology, media processes and production, mass communication and environmental risk, international news, the effects on public opinion of political communication and government-press relations.

Charlie Tuggle

Legal and regulatory issues in communication

Study of the law and public policy affecting communication. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include First Amendment theory, the intersection of law and ethics, regulation of online media, censorship, intellectual property and government regulation of commercial and corporate speech.

We offer a dual-degree program with the UNC School of Law, enabling students to earn Ph.D. and J.D. degrees in about five years, depending on their individual programs of study and progress.

Faculty

Tori Ekstrand

Dr. Ekstrand uses critical and mixed methods approaches to studying media law and policy – with specific research on conflicts between copyright law and the First Amendment and on web accessibility for people with disabilities.

Cathy Packer

Media uses and effects

Study of how audiences process media messages and the effects of communication on audiences, often influenced by theoretical frameworks in cognitive, social and developmental psychology. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include media impact on health, media and identity, audience uses of media and the effects of news and message design elements on cognitions, affect and behavior.

Faculty

Lucinda Austin

Dr. Austin’s research focuses on the influence of social media on health and crisis communication, and publics’ perspectives in corporate social responsibility and organization-public relationship-building.

Spencer Barnes

Dr. Barnes' research employs cognitive engineering and quantitative research methodologies to study the design and efficacy of dynamic visual communication products such as visual explanations, motion graphics and data visualizations.

Francesca Carpentier

Dr. Dillman Carpentier’s research lies within the broad area of media psychology, focusing on how cues within the media we consume can slip in under our radar and affect our attitudes and judgments without our express awareness.

Seth Noar

Health communication

Study of mediated communication and how it affects health-related attitudes, behaviors and health status. This includes the theory-based study of health messages, campaigns and social marketing, as well as the Internet and emerging communication technologies. Current and recent projects have focused on improving healthy diet, reducing tobacco use, preventing skin cancer, promoting HPV vaccination and increasing safer sexual behavior.

Faculty

Lucinda Austin

Dr. Austin’s research focuses on the influence of social media on health and crisis communication, and publics’ perspectives in corporate social responsibility and organization-public relationship-building.

Spencer Barnes

Dr. Barnes' research employs cognitive engineering and quantitative research methodologies to study the design and efficacy of dynamic visual communication products such as visual explanations, motion graphics and data visualizations.

Francesca Dillman Carpentier

Dr. Carpentier’s research lies within the broad area of media psychology, focusing on how cues within the media we consume can slip in under our radar and affect our attitudes and judgments without our express awareness.

Seth Noar

Political, social and strategic communication

Study of the ways in which organizations, governments and members of social and political groups create and disseminate messages designed to persuade and inform. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include the impact of media on the political process and public opinion, the role of media in sociocultural identities, advertising effectiveness and brand communication, crisis communication, ethical transparency in strategic communication, the role of networks in public relations and advocacy, and social media and network analytics.

Faculty

Deb Aikat

Dr. Aikat theorizes about the evolving roles of media and journalism in the digital age.

Lucinda Austin

Dr. Austin’s research focuses on the influence of social media on health and crisis communication, and publics’ perspectives in corporate social responsibility and organization-public relationship-building.

Lois Boynton

Joe Cabosky

Dr. Cabosky's research and creative work focuses on diversifying public relations by better appreciating the differences amongpublics and how this diversity should lead to better ways to build relationships with publics and stakeholders.

Nori Comello

Deen Freelon

Dr. Freelon’s primary areas of expertise are political expression through digital media and the use of computer programming and computational methods to extract, preprocess, analyze and visualize large digital datasets.

Trevy A. McDonald

Daniel Riffe

Dr. Riffe's research areas include mass communication research methodology, media processes and production, mass communication and environmental risk, international news, the effects on public opinion of political communication and government-press relations.

Adam Saffer

Dr. Saffer’s research takes a network perspective to study the relationships and social capital among individuals, groups and organizations, particularly in the areas of public relations and strategic communication.